At the same time, [Paul] Cornell remembered to put a human face on the series. The relationships were as engaging and as varied as the epic invasions. The strongest relationship was the blossoming romance between the Black Night and Dr. Hussain. Hussain was a very naturalistic portrayal of a Muslim immigrant to England. She was cool and charming and it was interesting to meet her family through the eyes of the Black Knight.

On the one hand, his gushy take on the characterization of Hussain is quite annoying as it is gallingly sugarcoated. On the other hand, it does tell that Cornell may have made a big boo-boo in the eyes of some Muslims: a romance between a Muslim woman and a non-Muslim man! Which is considered taboo under the beliefs of the Koran. Yeah, I'll bet this is a VERY naturalistic meeting with her family alright.

It makes me very sad whenever today's comics are ever considered realistic, science-fantasy or not, and even offends me whenever realism is considered the most absolute importance for escapism. And with the way this beginning to sound, that's why the mere mention of realism is almost starting to leave a bad aftertaste for me.

STORM!

After nearly 16 hours without power as the result of a horrific storm, we have power right now. Phone service, mobile and landline, is unreliable.

Maybe you've heard about the storm that left over 1 million of us without power here in the D.C. area.

I've spent all day long scurrying around, including going out on a scouting mission for gasoline. I managed to find only one gas station open anywhere near me.

I've been running in high gear ever since 4:30 A.M., when I adjusted Mr. AOW's hospital bed via a power inverter.

My cousin's husband, an electrician and an inactive Marine, saved the day by bringing over a generator, thus allowing for brewed coffee and running the fridge. I'm also prepared to run the sump pump if necessary.

Beware Of Those College Loans!

In all the uproar with the SCOTUS decision on ObamaCare, many interested and affected parties may have missed THIS:

...Starting Sunday [July 1], students hoping to earn the graduate degrees that have become mandatory for many white-collar jobs will become responsible for paying the interest on their federal loans while they are in school and immediately after they graduate. That means they’ll have to pay an extra $18 billion out of pocket over the next decade.

Meanwhile, the government will no longer cover the interest on undergraduate loans during the six months after students finish school. That’s expected to cost them more than $2 billion.

These changes have received little attention as lawmakers instead focus on preventing a spike in interest rates on federal student loans.

[...]

Students who take out these loans over the next year will receive the lower interest rate — but that amount will be charged to their bill as soon as they throw their graduation caps in the air. Students who apply for federal loans next year will be hit with a double whammy: a higher interest rate that begins after graduation.

[...]As of Sunday [July 1], Uncle Sam will no longer pay the interest on new graduate loans while students are in school and for six months after they finish. The change comes as government data show that the average annual cost of a master’s degree and professional programs in law and medicine has jumped by double digits. Enrollment in graduate programs has risen by 33 percent since 2000, to 2.8 million students. ...

'Unleash Hell': New Al Qaeda magazine describes in detail how to start huge forest fires across the U.S..with instructions on how to make 'ember bombs'

Al Qaeda has called upon its followers to unleash massive forest fires upon the United States this summer.

Published in the latest edition of the notorious terror magazine, 'Inspire', are graphic instructions for the creation and ignition of 'ember bombs'

Detailed in the memorably titled, 'It is of your Freedom to Ignite a Firebomb', the magazine encourages any would-be terrorist to target Montana, because of the rapid population growth in its wooded areas.

A fire burning out of control in a pine forest on the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation in New Mexico: Al Qaeda has issued instructions to its followers to start intentional fires in the United States

In other news:

Two Days Ago, Two Arab Arsonists Arrested in Jerusalem Blazes

Two Arab youths from the village of Issawiya in eastern Jerusalem were arrested Thursday and charged with arson, for setting several fires in the area of their village. One of the fires was set next to an IDF base on Mount Scopus, and the other was set next to Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus. One of the youths confessed, incriminating his partner in crime.

Hilary Clinton's Assistant Huma Abedin is the Daughter of a Prominent Member of the Muslim Sisterhood

From Barrack Now:Saleha and her now-deceased husband, Syed Z. Abedin, co-founded theInstitute of Muslim Minority Affairs(IMMA), established in both Great Britain and Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is a group that once hadclose tieswith a Saudi group known as theMuslim World League(MWL) through that group's General Secretary,Omar Abdullah Naseef.In Contemporary Discussions on Religious Minorities in Iran, Jorgen S. Nielsen, Professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Copenhagen, writes of the relationship between the Abedins and Naseef onp. 366:

“Trained in social science and being of Indian origin, Professor Abedin (Syed Z.) was the founder of the Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, an institution that had the quiet but active support of the then General Secretary of the Muslim World League, Dr. Umar Abdallah Nasif.”

Interestingly, IMMA was founded at the urging of theOrganization of the Islamic Conference(OIC). Incidentally, the Obama administration's envoy to the OIC isRashad Hussain,a man who found himself at the center of controversy when it was learned he spoke at aMuslim Students Association(MSA) event in 2004 andexpressed supportfor convicted terroristSami al-Arian.MSA is also aMuslim Brotherhood group.Hussain wascaught in a lieabout the incident and was not fired.Obama himself heaped praise on Hussain, saying he “has played a key role in developing the partnerships I called for in Cairo.”Perhaps more foreboding are the connections Saleha Abedin has with the U.S. State Department. In addition to being a Vice Dean atDar El-Hekma Collegein Saudi Arabia, Saleha was also one of the institution's founders, along withYaseen Abdullah Kadi– a designated terrorist by the U.S. – and members of the bin Laden family.In 2010,Huma arrangedfor the Secretary of State to visit Dar El-Hekma where Clinton spoke alongside both Saleha and another Sisterhood member named, Suheir Qureshi, who like so many of her colleagues, holds a Ph.D. The photo on the left is Hillary and Saleha at that Dar El-Hekma meeting; the photo on the right is of Huma and Hillary.Though the IMMA Editorial Boardcurrently listsboth Huma's mother and her brother as editors, it does not list her. However, it once did. Thanks to a screenshot from theAnti-Mullah blog,we have proof that she was once a member.IMMA website today:IMMA website in 2008:Speaking of covering internet tracks...Although the MWL's (Muslim World League) financial arm in the United States – Rabita Trust – wasshut downfor its terror ties, it still exists under the nameRabita al-Alam al-Islami; Saleha Abedin was once listed as a member of this organization, which makes her part of the MWL.TheAnti Defamation Leaguesays the following about the MWL:

“While the MWL has on several occasions condemned terrorism in general terms, it has a long history of providing financial support to terrorist groups or having organizational links to them, including to Hamas, Abu Sayyaf group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Jemaat al Islamiyya, and Al Qaeda.”

Rabita Trust was started by former General Secretary of the MWL and notorious al-Qaeda godfather,Abdullah Omar Naseef.Naseef plays an integral role in both al-Qaeda and the Muslim Brotherhood.This reality makes Saleha Abedin and Abdullah Omar Naseef colleagues. Both are intimately involved with the MWL and, by extension, connected to al-Qaeda.That's not Saleha's only al-Qaeda connection...Her name currently appears on the mainAl-Azhar University website(last name on the list) as a member of theHigh Council for Islamic Matters.Remember, the founder of al-Qaeda – Abdullah Azzam – is agraduate of Al-Azhar.Abedin is also a close colleague of Camellia Helmy, another Sisterhood leader. Helmy isthe wifeof Muslim Brotherhood leaderSiraj Al-Din Allboudi.Allboudi was imprisoned for his role in establishing the modern day Sisterhood or International Women's Organization (IWO).As a prestigious member of Al-Azhar University who participated in the 12th session of the Islamic Conference for the Islamic Uprising, Saleha has essentially endorsed the mission of the conference, which included representing the International Islamic Committee for Woman and Child (IICWC). The IICWS stood for thedecriminalization of rapewithin marriage. This would mean that Saleha would support the rape of her daughter (Huma) by her son-in-law, Anthony Weiner, who also happens to be Jewish. How's that for a contradiction? While Saleha is, no doubt, a proponent ofMuruna,which allows Muslims to absolve themselves of all prohibitions to further the cause of Islam (to include marrying a Jew), she also must necessarily support the marital rape of her daughter at the hands of Weiner.One has to wonder what Saleha thinks about the treatment received by the likes ofLara Loganat Tahrir Square last year.Here is a screen shot from a website that once listed Saleha as a member of Rabita Trust and touted her work with the IICWC. A screen shot is the best we could do because this information is no longer posted. Relevant Arabic has been translated:According toAl-Midina,the history of the Abedin name has a very real connection to Hitler, with only two degrees of separation through Haj Amin al-Husseini - the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem during WWII - and and Hassan al-Banna - the founder of the Muslim Brotherhood. The former was a colleague of Muhammad Sabri Abedin and the latter'ssecretarywas Abdul Hakim Abedin. Both are confirmed relatives of Sisterhood member, Saleha.It doesn't end there as Saleha's son, Hassan Abedin, also serves as a fellow (his name was removed after our work last year) on the board of the Oxford Center for Islamic Studies (OCIS) with Naseef, who isthe chairmanof the Board of Trustees there. Also serving as a trustee there was the aforementioned,Hitler-lovingMuslim Brotherhood leaderSheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi.Let us consider Saleha's relationship with IMMA Vice Chairman, Abu Bakr Bakader. (Institute of Muslim Minority Affairs). Our government needs to look into the two who are colleagues because Bakader is seen with Saleh Al-Ghamdia relative of three 9/11 hijackers, to include Saleh Al-Ghamdi, Ahmed al-Ghamdi, and Hamza Saleh Al-Ghamdi.At this point it's safe to say that our State Department has been infiltrated by enemies of this nation and those responsible for letting them in – either actively or passively – may be guilty of treason.Rush Limbaugh, as usual, is right and Think Progress, as usual, is left (and wrong).Now, if Think Progress would like to challenge us further about the new first lady of Egypt being aclose associateof Huma Abedin's mother, we recommend that they stop trying to catch our missiles with butterfly nets.

Steve Emerson on The Muslim Brotherhood and Stealth Jihad

(CNSNews.com) – Dennis K. Burke, who as a lawyer for the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee in the 1990s was a key player behind the enactment of the 1994 assault-weapons ban, and who then went on to become Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano’s chief of staff, and a contributor to Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential primary campaign, and then a member of Obama's transition team focusing on border-enforcement issues, ended up in the Obama administration as the U.S. attorney in Arizona responsible for overseeing Operation Fast and Furious.

When Obama nominated Burke to be U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, Burke told the Arizona Capitol Times he believed he understood what the president and his attorney general wanted him to do.

“There’s clearly been direction provided already by President Obama and Attorney General Holder as to what they want to be doing, and this is an office that is at the center of the issues of border enforcement,” said Burke.

Over the course of several days, CNSNews.com left multiple telephone messages with Burke for comment on this story. He did not respond.

Dennis K. Burke has had a long career working as an aide and political appointee to Democratic elected officials. From 1989 to 1994, he was a counsel for the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, working in that capacity for several years on an assault-weapons ban, which was finally enacted on Sept. 13, 1994 as the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. That act expired on Sept. 13, 2004. (See NYT: Dennis Burke, Sen. DeConcini, Weapons Ban.pdf)

From 1994-95, Burke served in the Clinton Justice Department in the Office of Legislative Affairs, and in 1997-99, he was an assistant U.S. attorney in Arizona.

From 1999 to 2003, Burke was chief deputy and special assistant to Arizona Attorney General Janet Napolitano.

In 2003, when Napolitano became governor, Burke became her chief of staff. He stayed in that job until the fall of 2008, when he left to help Democratic political campaigns, including then-Sen. Obama’s presidential campaign.

Federal Election Commission (FEC) records show that on Jan. 9, 2008, while working as Gov. Napolitano’s chief of staff, Burke contributed $2,000 to then-Sen Obama’s presidential primary campaign. Since 1997, according to FEC records, Burke has contributed a total of $16,350 to various Democratic candidates.

Eight days before Obama’s inauguration, on Jan. 12, 2009--while Burke was working on the transition team--Obama met with Mexican President Felipe Calderon at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Washington, D.C. At that meeting, Obama “pledged” to take action to stop the flow of guns from the United States to Mexico.

Obama also decided to put Burke’s old boss, incoming Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, in a leadership role in making the gun-trafficking problem a top priority.

“President-elect Obama expressed support for efforts in the border states in both the United States and Mexico to eradicate drug-related violence and stop the flow of guns and cash,” incoming White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said in a statement at the time. “He told President Calderón that he intends to ask the Secretary of Homeland Security to lead an effort to increase information sharing to strengthen those efforts. He pledged to take more effective action from the United States to stem the flow of arms from the United States to Mexico.”

When Napolitano became Homeland Security secretary, Burke moved from the Obama transition team to become her senior adviser. On Feb. 25, 2009, a little more than a month after Obama had made his “pledge” to Calderon, Napolitano testified in the House Homeland Security Committee. She stressed that stopping the flow of guns to Mexico was a top priority of the Obama administration and key focus of her work.

Responding to a question about violence on the border, Napolitano said the administration was going to work with the Mexican government on the issue. Then she said: “Secondly, it is looking at, government-wide, at what we can do to stop the southbound export of weaponry, particularly assault-type weapons and grenades that are being used in that drug war.”

Friday, June 29, 2012

Daaaaaaamn

No new taxes my ass!

From Big Government

While we were all debating the cost to our liberty due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), we were ignoring the cost to our pockets. If there ever was a reason for bipartisan rage about this law, it should be on the twenty - yes, twenty - hidden new taxes of this law. Making matters even more relevant is that seven of these taxes are levied on all citizens regardless of income. Hence, Mr. Obama’s promise not to raise taxes on anyone earning less than $250,000 is just another falsehood associated with this legislation.

The first, and best known, of these seven taxes that will hit all Americans as a result of Obamacare is the Individual Mandate Tax (no longer concealed as a penalty). This provision will require a couple to pay the higher of a base tax of $1,360 per year, or 2.5% of adjusted growth income starting with lower base tax and rising to this level by 2016. Individuals will see a base tax of $695 and families a base tax of $2,085 per year by 2016.

Next up is the Medicine Cabinet Tax that took effect in 2011. This tax prohibits reimbursement of expenses for over-the-counter medicine, with the lone exception of insulin, from an employee’s pre-tax dollar funded Health Saving Account (HSA), Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or Health Reimbursement Account (HRA). This provision hurts middle class earners particularly hard since they earn enough to actually pay federal taxes, but not enough to make this restriction negligible.

The Flexible Spending Account (FSA) Cap, which will begin in 2013, is perhaps the most hurtful provision to the middle class. This part of the law imposes a cap of $2,500 per year (which is now unlimited) on the amount of pre-tax dollars that could be deposited into these accounts. Why is this particularly hurtful to the middle class? It is because funds in these accounts may be used to pay for special needs education for special needs children in the United States. Tuition rates for this type of special education can easily exceed $14,000 per year and the use of pre-tax dollars has helped many middle income families.

Another direct hit to the middle class is the Medical Itemized Deduction Hurdle which is currently 7.5% of adjusted gross income. This is the hurdle that must be met before medical expenses over that hurdle can be taken as a deduction on federal income taxes. Obamacare raises this hurdle to 10% of adjusted gross income beginning in 2013. Consider the middle class family with $80,000 of adjusted gross income and $8,000 of medical expenses. Currently, that family can get some relief from being able to take a $2,000 deduction (7.5% X $80,000 = $6,000; $8,000 –$6,000 = $2,000). An increase to 10% would eliminate the deduction in this example and if that family was paying a 25% federal tax rate, the real cost of that lost deduction would be $500.

The fifth new tax on the middle class, and all Americans, is the Health Savings Account (HSA) Withdrawal Tax Hike. This provision increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10% currently to 20% beginning in 2013. This provision actually sets these accounts apart from Investment Retirement Accounts (IRAs) and other tax advantaged accounts, all of which remain with a 10% early withdrawal tax.

Another regressive tax that is part of this law began in 2010 and that is the Indoor Tanning Services Tax, which places a 10% excise tax on people using tanning salons. While some may regard this as insignificant, the broader implication is that this act of taxation is a blatant move by the federal government to control the behavior of citizens. This provision, as does the Individual Mandate and as Justice Kennedy said during the oral arguments on the constitutionality of the law said, “….fundamentally changes the relationship between the federal government and the citizen.”

The seventh new tax that directly impacts the middle class, along with all citizens, is the Excise Tax on Comprehensive Health Insurance Plans or the “Cadillac” Health Insurance Plan Tax. These are plans that provide extensive coverage and that are generally fully paid for, or largely paid for, by employers. This provision imposes a 40% excise tax on the employer-paid premium on taxpayers who are covered by such plans, beginning in 2018. The reason it begins in 2018 is because most unionized workers are covered by plans that fall under this definition and a deferral was made to spare union members from this tax for at least a period of time.

In the midst of a fiery floor debate over contempt proceedings for Attorney General Eric Holder, House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) quietly dropped a bombshell letter into the Congressional Record.

The May 24 letter to Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), ranking member on the panel, quotes from and describes in detail a secret wiretap application that has become a point of debate in the GOP’s “Fast and Furious” gun-walking probe.

The wiretap applications are under court seal, and releasing such information to the public would ordinarily be illegal. But Issa appears to be protected by the Speech or Debate Clause in the Constitution, which offers immunity for Congressional speech, especially on a chamber’s floor.

According to the letter, the wiretap applications contained a startling amount of detail about the operation, which would have tipped off anyone who read them closely about what tactics were being used.

Holder and Cummings have both maintained that the wiretap applications did not contain such details and that the applications were reviewed narrowly for probable cause, not for whether any investigatory tactics contained followed Justice Department policy.

The wiretap applications were signed by senior DOJ officials in the department’s criminal division, including Deputy Assistant Attorney General Jason Weinstein, Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Blanco and another official who is now deceased.

In Fast and Furious, agents for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed assault guns bought by “straw purchasers” to “walk,” which meant ending surveillance on weapons suspected to be en route to Mexican drug cartels.

The tactic, which was intended to allow agents to track criminal networks by finding the guns at crime scenes, was condemned after two guns that were part of the operation were found at U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry’s murder scene.

Straw purchasers are individuals who buy guns on behalf of criminals, obscuring who is buying the weapons.

While Issa has since said he has obtained a number of wiretap applications, the letter only refers to one, from March 15, 2010. The full application is not included in what Issa entered into the Congressional Record, and names are obscured in Issa’s letter.

In the application, ATF agents included transcripts from a wiretap intercept from a previous Drug Enforcement Administration investigation that demonstrated the suspects were part of a gun-smuggling ring.

“The wiretap affidavit details that agents were well aware that large sums of money were being used to purchase a large number of firearms, many of which were flowing across the border,” the letter says.

The application included details such as how many guns specific suspects had purchased via straw purchasers and how many of those guns had been recovered in Mexico.

It also described how ATF officials watched guns bought by suspected straw purchasers but then ended their surveillance without interdicting the guns.

In at least one instance, the guns were recovered at a police stop at the U.S.-Mexico border the next day.

The application included financial details for four suspected straw purchasers showing they had purchased $373,000 worth of guns in cash but reported almost no income for the previous year, the letter says.

“Although ATF was aware of these facts, no one was arrested, and ATF failed to even approach the straw purchasers. Upon learning these details through its review of this wiretap affidavit, senior Justice Department officials had a duty to stop this operation. Further, failure to do so was a violation of Justice Department policy,” the letter says.

Holder declined to discuss the contents of the applications at a House Judiciary Committee hearing June 7 but said the applications were narrowly reviewed for whether there was probable cause to obtain a wiretap application.

Thousands of wiretap applications are reviewed each year by the DOJ’s criminal division. The applications are designed to obtain approval, so they tend to focus on the most suspicious information available.

A line attorney first creates a summary of the application, which is then usually reviewed by a deputy to Lanny Breuer, the head of the division, on his behalf. It is then reviewed and approved or denied by a judge.

Cummings has sided with the DOJ in the debate over the secret applications, but the full substance of his argument is unknown.

A June 5 letter from Cummings responding to Issa’s May 24 letter said Issa “omits the critical fact that [redacted].” The entire first section of the letter’s body is likewise blacked out.

"Sadly, it looks like Mr. Issa is continuing his string of desperate and unsubstantiated claims, while hiding key information from the very same documents," a Democratic committee staffer said. "His actions demonstrate a lack of concern for the facts, as well as a reckless disregard for our nation’s courts and federal prosecutors who are trying to bring criminals to justice. We’re not going to stoop to his level. Obviously, we are going to honor the court’s seal and the prosecutors’ requests. But if Mr. Issa won’t tell you what he is hiding from the wiretaps, you should ask him why."

Do We Have The Name Of The Shooter?

A U.S. Army battalion commander was killed by a fellow soldier on Thursday in a shooting incident at Fort Bragg, N.C. The alleged gunman then shot himself and is in custody; a third soldier was slightly injured in the shooting.

An Army statement said the shooting victim belonged to the 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade. A battalion is a subordinate command within a brigade and is commanded by a lieutenant colonel. The battalion involved in today’s shooting has not been identified.

A Defense official told ABC News that the shooting occurred this afternoon as the battalion was gathered for a safety briefing in advance of the upcoming July 4 weekend.

The safety briefings are usually held by commanders to reinforce good patterns of behavior during holiday periods.

The official says that at some point during the safety briefing an enlisted soldier broke out of formation and pulled a handgun to shoot the battalion commander. Another soldier was slightly injured during the shooting. The gunman then shot himself. He was taken into custody and is listed as being in serious condition....

Obama's roadmap to Europe

By Frank McCaffrey — You want Europe, Mr. president? You got Europe. Check out your economy and you will see the proof! This blunderful journey takes us around the eastern continent to see how Obama has imitated Europe.

The Fastest Growing Religion in America Is…

Do you know what the fastest growing religion in America is? It isn’t Christianity. According to the latest U.S. Religion Census that was just released on May 1, 2012, the fastest growing religion in America is Islam. The data for the census was compiled by the Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies, and the results were released by the Association of Religion Data Archives. From the year 2000 to the year 2010, the census found that the number of Muslims living inside the United States increased from 1 million to 2.6 million – a stunning increase of 66.7 percent. That is an astounding rate of growth. Meanwhile, most Christian denominations had rates of growth that were far below the overall rate of population growth in the United States, and some Christian denominations actually lost members. Sadly, when Barack Obama once said that “we are no longer a Christian nation” he wasn’t too far off the mark. Christianity is rapidly losing influence and other religions such as Islam are rapidly gaining members and building new places of worship. As other major religions such as Islam continue to grow in the United States, it is inevitable that this will reshape America in many different ways in the years ahead.

1.7% - America's Muslim Population 2030

Population projections by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life estimate that the number of Muslims in the U.S will more than double over the next two decades, rising from 2.6 million in 2010 to 6.2 million in 2030, and growing as a share from 0.8% of the total population to 1.7%. The growth in population is in large part due to immigration and higher-than-average fertility among Muslims. The estimated growth will put the American Muslim population on par with the Jewish and Episcopalian populations in the U.S today. These population projections also show that the U.S. will be one of 79 countries with a million or more Muslims in 2030. A majority of the world's Muslims (about 60%) will continue to live in the Asia-Pacific region, about 20% will live in the Middle East and North Africa (as is the case today), 2.7% will reside in Europe and 0.5% will live in the Americas. Read more

From CAIR:

A 2010 Pew report on mosque-building controversies shows that the number of mosques in the United States has increased from 1,209 to 1,825 in the decade since the 2001 report. Ihsan Bagby, a professor of Islamic Studies at the University of Kentucky who isupdating the mosque study, says mosques had been largely located in urban centers as well as college towns supporting Muslim students in the '60s and '70s, and that those students have since matured, grown more affluent, and dispersed around the country. He notes the "surprising" growth of mosques in small towns.

Finally, something in the nation today worth emulating

Look At The Supreme Court's ObamaCare Decision This Way

...In voting to uphold Mr. Obama’s disastrous health-care overhaul, the chief justice took away the president’s main line of attack that surely would have been deployed had the court voted 5-4, along party lines. The Divider in Chief, already bent on stoking cultural warfare — upper-middle class vs. lower-middle class, white against black against Hispanic, gay against straight, believers against non-believers — had no doubt hoped to win one more target for his bilious bifurcation.

Were the five justices appointed by Republican president to have stuck together in opposition, Mr. Obama would have toured the country (at taxpayer expense) to decry the court’s action as nothing more than an act political usurpation...

November 2012 will be the last referendum on ObamaCare – and on the Obama administration itself. Moreover, November 2012 gives voters the opportunity to change our elected public servants on Capitol Hill.

Blind Faith

How My Mother's Fanatical Feminism Tore Us Apart

She's revered as a trail-blazing feminist and author Alice Walker touched the lives of a generation of women. A champion of women's rights, she has always argued that motherhood is a form of servitude. But one woman didn't buy in to Alice's beliefs - her daughter, Rebecca, 38.

Here the writer describes what it was like to grow up as the daughter of a cultural icon, and why she feels so blessed to be the sort of woman 64-year-old Alice despises - a mother.

The other day I was vacuuming when my son came bounding into the room. 'Mummy, Mummy, let me help,' he cried. His little hands were grabbing me around the knees and his huge brown eyes were looking up at me. I was overwhelmed by a huge surge of happiness.

Maternal rift: Rebecca Walker, whose mother was the feminist author of The Color Purple - who thought motherhood a form of servitude, is now proud to be a mother herself

I love the way his head nestles in the crook of my neck. I love the way his face falls into a mask of eager concentration when I help him learn the alphabet. But most of all, I simply love hearing his little voice calling: 'Mummy, Mummy.'

It reminds me of just how blessed I am. The truth is that I very nearly missed out on becoming a mother - thanks to being brought up by a rabid feminist who thought motherhood was about the worst thing that could happen to a woman.

You see, my mum taught me that children enslave women. I grew up believing that children are millstones around your neck, and the idea that motherhood can make you blissfully happy is a complete fairytale.

Family love? A young Rebecca with her parents

In fact, having a child has been the most rewarding experience of my life. Far from 'enslaving' me, three-and-a-half-year-old Tenzin has opened my world. My only regret is that I discovered the joys of motherhood so late - I have been trying for a second child for two years, but so far with no luck.

The Parallel Government
Of The Entire World

All of us, every single man, woman, and child on the face of the Earth were born with the same unalienable rights; to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And, if the governments of the world can't get that through their thick skulls, then, regime change will be necessary.

The Untold Story of Muslim Opinions & Demographics

Infidel Babe Of The Week
Moran Atias - TYRANT

IBA Quote of the Week.

"The tank, the B-52, the fighter-bomber, the state-controlled police and military are the weapons of dictatorship. The rifle is the weapon of democracy. Not for nothing was the revolver called an "equalizer." Egalite implies liberte. And always will. Let us hope our weapons are never needed — but do not forget what the common people of this nation knew when they demanded the Bill of Rights: An armed citizenry is the first defense, the best defense, and the final defense against tyranny."

"An Islamic regime must be serious in every field," explained Ayatollah Khomeini. "There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humour in Islam. There is no fun in Islam."

****************

"I want to be very, very clear, however: I understand and agree with the analysis of the problem. There is an imminent threat. It manifested itself on 9/11. It's real and grave. It is as serious a threat as Stalinism and National Socialism were. Let's not pretend it isn't."~~~~~Bono~~~~~